Jill Thorson

<p>Jill Thorson, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her research asks “How do children acquire language?” and focuses on the perception and production of prosody (i.e., the melody and rhythm of speech) at different stages in development, and how these early language processes impact successful communication. The goal of her work is to provide a better understanding of how the complex interaction between prosody and meaning develops over infancy and early childhood in both typical and atypical developing population. Past work has explored how prosody impacts early word learning as well as how the acoustic correlates of prosody are realized in the speech of minimally verbal school-aged children with autism. Additionally, she is interested in the role of prosody in the diagnosis and treatment of motor speech disorders. These lines of research not only inform how language and learning difficulties are classified across disorders but also offer insight into intervention, treatment, and earlier diagnosis.</p>
<p><br>Dr. Thorson’s current work is centered on how to more naturally assess prosodic abilities across the lifespan with funding from a pilot project from NH-INBRE, an NIH IDEA grant. Her work has been widely published in top peer-reviewed journals, and she received the UNH College of Health and Human Services Teaching Award in 2024. Actively engaged in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Acoustical Society of America, and Speech Prosody special interest group, she contributes to advancing foundational science and evidence-based assessment strategies in communication sciences and disorders.&nbsp;</p>
<p><br>She is also the Director of the Communication, Acquisition, and Translational Studies Laboratory (CAT Lab) at UNH. See above for link to website and details on current studies.</p>